It was a very moving weekend for the Leone Band and all of us at the Aurora as we went through three different musical engagements between Saturday and Monday.

Exodus | The Pilgrimage

As announced, the Aurora’s own Leone Band presented its annual concert of sacred music and reflections at the Gozo Cathedral Church on Saturday 9th April, 2022, eve of Palm Sunday. The concert contained a number of philosophical and sociological reflections on the concept of contemporary exodus, penned by author Joseph W. Psaila. The idea of the biblical exodus (and Ernest Gold’s Exodus theme) was only a starting point. Reflections then pondered on the Mediterranean exodus of seafaring migrants, the (in)significance of religio-cultural pilgrimages and the exodus of war victims in Ukraine and elsewhere.

Psaila’s reflections were further contextualised with quotations from Pope Francis’ three main speeches taken from his recent Apostolic trip to Malta and Gozo; the Mediterranean becoming Europe’s largest graveyard (from his speech in Valletta); the religious and popular piety cult of Christians (from his speech in Gozo); the war’s displaced (from his speech at the Peace Laboratory in Malta).

Directed by Colin Attard, the Aurora’s resident conductor, the Leone Band mastered a number of sublime pieces, including Brahms’ Blessed Are They, Bach’s Arioso and Abel Moreno Gomez’s celebrated La Madruga. Saturday’s concert was also a premiering occasion. The Leone Band, in fact, premiered Colin Attard’s funerary marches: Fi Ħdan il-Feddej (in the Arms of the Saviour), a tribute to John Cremona (former Aurora President) and Lux Aeterna (Eternal Light), in memoriam Mgr John Bosco Gauci (former Cathedral Archdeacon), both composed in 2020.

A Prayer for Ukraine // Молитва за Україну

But perhaps, the most unexpected call came from the Aurora Youth Choir. The children immediately set the tone when they walked down the aisle leaving a trail of personal belongings, toys, blankets and life jackets. Towards the end, when it was the choir’s own time to perform, they pulled a very poignant rendition of Lysenko’s 1885 patriotic Catholic hymn; Prayer for Ukraine // Молитва за Україну. Singing in three voices, the junior chorus’ children interacted beautifully with the architectural space around them and cruised unaided – save for the baroque cathedral’s splendid acoustics – through the score and Ukrainian text. The merited applause soon turned into a standing ovation as flowers were presented to Ukrainian residents who fled the ravages of war and sought safe shelter in Gozo.

The evening, produced with the generous support of the Cultural Directorate within the Ministry for Gozo, was rounded up with the much loved ode to the Holy Cross – La Croce (1913).

A Good Friday procession and a very touching funeral

Those close to us or familiar with the Maltese context need no explanation, but for the purpose of the general public, it is fair to say that Good Friday processions hold a special place in the popular cultural and devotional calendar. Our own people hold their own procession, which in normal times, includes 7 historic statues and hundreds of participants. Owing to strong winds and the geographical location of the Gozo Cathedral church, this time round, much of the pageantry had to be sacrificed, but the Leone Band accompanied a redacted procession with two devotional papier mache statues and the Gozo Cathedral chapter of canons. This took place on Sunday 10th April.

Librettos with funerary marches were then back in use on Monday as the Leone Band saluted and accompanied the funeral cortege of its 98-year old Vice-President Mr Edward Grech. Still active after more than an outstanding 75 years of service in our committee, Mr Grech’s demise was quite unexpected. Tributes flowed from all sectors of society and the Leone Band joined his family in mourning a much loved and respected gentleman. His remains were welcomed in front of the Aurora Opera House and taken shoulder high up to the Cathedral Church where Gozo’s bishop, HL Anton Teuma led the funeral service.